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20090919

Umbilo cops on trial for racist massacre of 4 whites dismissed from SAPS

Asian police inspectors Brian and Leon Steven were dismissed from the SAPS in June this year -- after an internal SAPS hearing found them guilty of carrying out a racist massacre: they had gunned down four Afrikaner family men in Umbilo on September 10 2008

September 19 2008 -- UMBILO, KwaZulu-Natal. Brian and Leon Steven, the two Indian ex-policemen who are on trial this week for gunning down and killing four unarmed Afrikaner men in cold blood after a racist ‘argument over the size of penises’ at an Umbilo pub, were found guilty in an internal hearing of the SAPS, and dismissed from the force in June this year -- KwaZulu-Natal police announced on Friday. http://www.thestar.co.za/?fArticleId=5170920

The South African news media has turned this terrible tragedy into some kind of sexist joke – describing this massacre of four white family men as an ‘argument over penis sizes’— and thus also hiding the fact that this was a very vicious racist massacre.

Initial reports said three had died, and a fourth man died later of his injuries.

Five men of Asian origin were arrested by a special task force from the Phoenix police station very shortly thereafter. One of these suspects was a police inspector stationed at the Mayville police station and the other was based at the Point police station in KZN. One of the police officers already had been placed on suspension for a previous, unknown offense.

Both men found guilty by internal SAPS hearing:

Superintendent Jay Naicker pointed out on Sept 19 2009 that the news media has to take note of the dismissal of the these two Asian policemen because they were still inaccurately reporting that they were merely ‘suspended’ from the force – when in fact both men had been dismissed from the force outright after an internal hearing of the SAPS had found both men guilty.

"The dismissal of Brian Steven and his brother Leon did not receive media attention. This has seen the media reporting that the brothers were still inspectors and that they were under suspension," said Naicker."On June 8 this year the two policemen were dismissed from the South African Police force after the murder of four men," said Naicker.

The two Asian brothers face four counts of murder in Umbilo court this month. One of the accused, Brian Samuel Steven, testified in Umbilo court this week that ‘he’d shot the four men in self-defence, fearing for his brother's life” and describing a confused scene where shots were exchanged back and forth.

Massacre-scene was like ‘a slaughterhouse’

However – on the day in question, September 10 2008, the four murdered Afrikaner pub patrons, all family men with small children -- Shawn Strydom, Nick Jansen van Rensburg, Rory Menzes and Bruce Edwards -- were gunned down and killed while they were seated peacefully at a table together, watching a televised football match at the Merseyside Pub in Umbilo in Durban. And the two Asian men accused of killing them, had according to the evidence, gone home after an argument with the Afrikaners which had been started by one of the police-officers in the pub’s urinal; had fetched police-issue guns from their homes, returned to the pub and then massacred the white men where they sat. Security officials said the scene ‘reminded them of a slaughterhouse’.

Police also said at the time that this was the culmination of an argument which began when 'a patron of Indian descent had approached a white man at the pub’s urinals and made a derogatory comment about the size of the white patron's genitals.”

When the white man returned to the table with his other friends, the Asian man had called his brother and several other Asian friends and followed him to the table, continuing the argument. The two groups of men then took their argument outside, and had stood on the sidewalk for a while exchanging insults and engaging in scuffles and fisticuffs. The Asian brothers then left and the Afrikaners went back inside to finish watching the game. None were armed.

Internal hearing by police found the two cops 'guilty' The Steven brothers were suspended by the SAPS immediately after they were charged on four counts of murder -- and they had also attended an internal hearing 'where they were found guilty and dismissed’ in June this year.

Enforce Security company spokeswoman Brendi Baard said at the time that the security guards who had attended to the scene had described it as a slaughterhouse. "We had to calm people down and ask them to clear the scene. It was very gruesome."

Alan Gale -- employed at the Coimbra Restaurant next door to the pub -- went to look for a friend next door and found himself in the line of fire."When I heard the first gunshot I thought it was a cracker. I looked straight at a man pointing a gun. At the second shot, I hit the floor. Around seven shots were fired. People were screaming and diving on to the floor all around me. I saw a wounded man with blood flowing from his side. He was pleading for help and then passed away in front of me."

When the shooting stopped, a group of men split up and some drove off in a blue Toyota Tazz without number plates. The rest drove away in a white BMW. The security guard on duty managed to get the number plate and reported it to the police."

A musician at the Coimbra also related his version of events on condition of anonymity. "The shots were so loud they sounded like they were being fired in the restaurant. I rushed outside and saw three guys leaving the bar. A big guy was holstering a gun. "They got into a white BMW and screamed off. A man ran out of the bar after the car, bleeding from a wound in his groin, and then he collapsed. " nside the bar one man was dead from a head shot. Two were alive and moaning and one of their friends was throwing chairs around and screaming."

According to the musician, restaurant-staff members tried their best to stem the bleeding from the injured men's wounds, and comforted patrons. Security and medical personnel arrived rapidly, followed by the police.

The term "genocide" was coined by legal scholar Raphael Lemkin in 1943, writing:

'Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actionsaiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.

The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity and lives of the members of such groups... '